Apparatus for purifying sewage.



No. 840,179'. PATENTBD JAN. 1, 1907.

A. VOGBLSANG APPARATUS PoR PURIPYING sEwAGE. APPLICATION FILED AULA-24. 190s.

THE Nonms Psrgns co., wAsmNcroN. n. c.

lUNITED srarns ALFRED VOGELSANG, OF DRESDEN, GERMANY.

APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING SEWAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 24:. 1905. Serial No. 275.550.

Patented Jan. 1i, 1907.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, ALFRED VoGELsANG, a subject of the King of Prussia, German Emperor, and a resident of Dresden, Kaitzerstrasse 12, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire, have invented 4a new and useful Improvement in Apparatuses for Purifying Sewage, of which the following is a specification.

`My invention relates to an apparatus for purifying sewage; and the primary object thereof is the provision of an apparatus of this nature wherein means are employed for effecting a sufficient natural draft through the purifying medium to produce a complete clarification of the liquid passing throughthe purifying medium, dispensing with mechanical means for creating a draft.

In carrying out my invention I employ a vault or purifying-tank, which may be placed at any depth below the surface of the ground and is provided with a grate or perforated bottom, an air-shaft sunk in the ground toa depth somewhat below the bottom of thel tank and communicating with a space below the said grate or perforated tank bottom, thereby providing for the ingress of the air and the egress of the clarified liquid,a purifying material within the tank and arranged in layers of different sizes superimposed except at one side of the tank, where each layer is banked and extends to approximately the same height, a settling-tank, a` chimney, communications from the interior of the purifying-tankthrough the settling-tank to the chimney, means for conveying the sewage from the settling-tank to the uppermost layer of purifying material in the purifyingtank, and a vessel for receiving theclairified liquid.

'Figure 1 shows a vertical section of the complete purifying apparatus; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse section to the line A B of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 a diagrammatic plan of a purifying plant of greater dimensions and composed of several purifying-bodies.

The purify ing vessel or tank r and the entire purifying plant may be built of bricks, concrete, earthenware, or similar material, and the purifyingtank r is tightly closed at its top, preferably, by an iron plate.A The l bottom of the vessel is provided with a grate or perforated bridge b and may be formed in any simple manner-for instance, by placing bricks in staggered positions between which the openings c are provided. This bottom is vault-shaped, as shown in Fig. 2, so that a passage of is formed underneathvthe entire filter-body, and to this passage the air is supplied, and the purified sewage is carried off, and for a better distribution of the air underneath the complete purifying vessel and for facilitating the exit of the clarified liquid this passage'may be of conical shape. The passage is directly connected to an air-shaft s for admitting air.

' The purifying vessel r is provided in one of its walls with an exit t and is partially filled with a purifying or filtering substance-such, for instance, as coke, slag-and may preferably .be used in three layers ef g of as many different sizes. The thickness of the layers necessarily varies with circumstances. The layer e of the coarsest slag is preferably the thickest one, being the lowermost, whereas the layer of the finest slag forms the upper covering. The layer of the coarsest slag is banked on one side nearly up to the exit-pas sage h in the brickwork of the narrow side of the vessel r, and the upper and intermediate layers of filtering material are similarly banked. By these means the air circulating from below to above is distributed in a better manner within the entire filtering-body, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. l, and may reach in an easier manner the upper part of the settling vessel t. From this vessel t the air enters by the aperture t into the ,upper art of the settling-tank 'u and circulates from the latter through the pipe 7c to a chimney either of the house or an independent structure.

A pipe Z from the settling vessel t supplies the sewage to one or more distributing-conduits m n, preferably of V-shaped section, from which the sewage is continuously supplied to the uppermost layer of filtering material. After passing through all of the hltering layers the clarified water passes through the slots c to the conduit d, and from the latter through the opening o to the lowermost part of the air-shaft s, which may pref'- erably be covered by asieve-plate p. The puried sewage is carried off from the lowermost part of the air-shaft through a passage or conduit g to the collecting tank or vessel i), as shown i-n Fig. 1.

The com lete process of purification is as follows: hereas the air is admitted at p into the shaft s', and in consequence of the draft created by the chimney circulates through the opening o, the conduit d, the slots c, the filtering layer e, the openings h to the settling vessel t and through the opening i to the tank u, and finally through `the pipe 7c to the chimney, carrying with it Vall Egases arising from the sewage,while the sew- ,age asses in .the opposite direction from the Isett ng vessels t and u, which are .closed yat their upper parts by a .cover or lid by way of the supply-pipe Zon to the distribution-convduits m n. The sewage .trickles or penetrates through the ltering layers g f e, en- .ters the Vconduits d by way of the openings c, Aand passes on through the opening 0 into the lowermost part of the shaft s and then through the .passage or conduit q into the collecting basin .or vessel v in a .completelypurified and inodorous state.

Instead of one purifying apparatus of the construction described above it may be preferable to combine several such apparatus as a purifying .or filtering plant kas may be re- `quired, and these apparatus may be so arranged that all are in connection with a central main chimney, as shown in the diagram of Fig. 3. In some cases it may be desirable to yprovide a steam-pipeh around the entire plant as van auxiliary means for heating the air, by which heating the purifying process is materially assisted by increasing the circulation of the air through the purifier, and, moreover, purifying plants arranged according to the present invention in which the oxidizing process takes place in a vault which is .entirely closed makes it possible to place such purifying plants in the immediate neighborhood of dwelling-houses and also in densely-populated districts.

I .claim as my invention- 1. An apparatus for purifying sewage comprising a vault, an apertured bridge within ,said vault, layers of filtering material on the Vsaid bridge, an air-shaft providing a direct l.communication from the atmosphere tothe passage-way beneath the said bridge, a settling-tank adjacent to said vault andmeans establishing communication between the in- .teriors of the said vault and tank and for conveying the sewage from the settling-tank to .and -distributing the same upon the uppermost layer of the said purifying material, a chimney and a connection between the said4 .chimney and the interior of the said vault.

2. An apparatus for purifying sewage, com- -prising a vault, an apertured bridge within said vault, layers of filtering material placed .on the said bridge, an air-shaft providing a clarified liquid and a passage between the p same and the bottom of the said shaft.

3. An apparatus for purifying sewage comprising a vault placed .beneath the ground, an apertured bridge within said vault, layers of filtering material of different sizes placed on the said bridge, each layer being banked to the same height at one side of the said vault, yan air-shaft providing a direct communication from the atmosphere to the passage-way beneath the said bridge, a settling-tank in communication with the interior of the said vault, means for .conveying the sewage from the settling-tank .to and distributing the same upon the uppermost layer of the said purifying material, a chimney and a connection between the said chimney and the interior .of the said vault.

4. An apparatus for purifying sewage, comprising a vault placed beneath the ground, an apertured bridge within said vault, layers of filtering material of different sizes placed on the said bridge, each layer being banked to the same height at one side of the said vault, an air-shaft'providing `a direct communication from the atmosphere to the passage-way beneath the said bridge, a settling-tank in communication with the interior of the said vault, means for conveying the sewage from the settling-tank to and .distributing the same upon the uppermost layer of the said purifying material, a chimney, a connection between the said chimney and the interior of the said vault, a collecting-tank for receiving the clarified liquid and a passage between the same and the bottom of the said shaft.

5. An apparatus for purifying sewage, com- IOO prising an entirely-closed vault, a perforated bottom extending entirely across the lower part of the said vault, .a purifying body placed on said perforated bottom, a free connection between the atmosphere and the chamber beneath the said perforated bottom,

iioor beneath the said arched perforated bot- In testimony that I claim the foregoing ast tom inelining toward the said Connection, a my invention I have signed my name, in Io filtering material on said arched perforated presence of two Witnesses, this 9th day of Aubottom and banked along the side of the vault gust, 1905. 5 Opposite the said connection, a chimney l ALFRED VOGELSANG.

apart from said vault and a connection bel Witnesses:

tween said chimney and the chamber Within l PAUL E. SOHILLING,

the vault above the said filtering material. l PAUL ARRAS. 

